Bradford Abbas still without a post box after four months

Bradford Abbas, a village of around 1,000 people, was branded as ‘forgotten’ by one of its residents due to a lack of shops, bus stops and no means of postal service.

The village has been without its post box since early November when new owners bought the old Post Office building in the village.

Changing the property from commercial to domestic use meant that engineers from Royal Mail sealed off and painted over the George V post box in the front of the building in black, signifying that it will no longer be in use.

Robin Legg, a Dorset Council councillor, represents 20 villages in the Sherborne district, including Bradford Abbas.

He blames a lack of communication on the situation from the Post Office, which has left the village without the service. Cllr Legg was told that it could take up to 12 weeks.

He said: “The trouble is that the agency the Post Office use don’t communicate with us so we don’t have any updates.

“It was very concerning before Christmas with people needing to send important letters, and now it’s beyond a joke- appalling.

Cllr Legg went on to say that he knows the strain the service is under, but said the issue was ‘insoluble.’

He said: “Decommissioning and reinstating a village post box shouldn’t be a major issue.”

The councillor added that the village has been visited by Post Office officials three times since November as there was a dispute over the location for the box.

Originally the site chosen for a post box was close to the war memorial in the village but plans had to change as engineers could not safely install it in the location.

Since then, Cllr Legg has confirmed that they have been visited by Post Office officials a total of three times.

Now, it looks like the site could be moved 50 yards the way across the road on what Cllr Legg described as a ‘wider area of pavement’ and next to a telegraph pole.

Local resident of 14 years, Elaine Jacklin, said the issue is still causing problems for her as she has needed to ask for extensions on important documents being sent in, due to not being able to post them unless she spends £30 on a taxi to another area with a box. She said it was ‘concerning.’

The Post Office has been approached for comment.